by Mitzi Kelly
"Not a chance," Millie blurted smugly. "Edna and I took turns ducking down low in our seats. Even if Mary had spotted us, she wouldn't have seen three women at the same time."
Trish could tell Joe was trying to hide a grin. That was a good sign. He might think their methods were amateurish, which, when hearing Millie tell it, certainly sounded that way, but at least he wasn't mad.
"I see I made a very wise decision today," Joe sighed.
"What is that, dear?" Edna asked, obviously relieved also.
Joe reached over and grabbed the box he had brought in. Opening it, he pulled out a small object and handed it to Edna.
"What's this?" she asked.
"It's a cell phone. I'm sure the only reason you didn't let me know the extent of what you were doing today was because you didn't have a way to get in touch with me. That won't be a problem any longer."
Edna kept her smile in place and swallowed. "How thoughtful you are, dear."
"Take a left here." Trish sat with Millie in the backseat of Joe and Edna's Expedition. It had taken over an hour the night before to convince Joe that talking to Mary Chavez was necessary in their investigation, but finally he had agreed on two conditions: one, that he come along, and, two, that he drive. He had heard enough horror stories over the years not to trust any of them to drive while they were excited.
"Let's go over the plan one more time," Edna said from the front seat. "Millie, please listen carefully."
"Hey, did you forget that I came up with the plan in the first place?"
"No, dear, and it's a good plan. But you do seem to have a habit of straying off-script. This might be our only chance to find out what we can about Mary. We don't want to blow it."
Millie sighed deeply. "Oh, all right, go over it one more time if it will make you happy. I feel like I'm in grade school"
"Sometimes you behave like you're in grade school."
Trish groaned to herself. They didn't have time for this. "First of all, we find out what section Mary is working in. Then, we go in and order dinner. While Mary is taking the order, Edna tells her that she looks familiar. We engage her in conversation and come to realize we had seen her at Sam's office a few years ago. We ask her if she heard Susan had passed away. Everybody needs to watch her reaction carefully. If she gets curious as to what we're doing in the area, we mention that we've been visiting a friend.
"During the whole meal, we keep asking friendly questions and try to find out as much as we can about her life now. Remember, we don't want to appear too curious or suspicious in any way, just friendly. Has everybody got it?"
"Got it," Edna and Millie replied in unison.
"Is that it up ahead?" Joe asked.
"Yes," all three of them replied, and excitement began to fill the air.
Joe parked the car and waited a few minutes for the women to spot Mary through the large windows. Soon they were entering the restaurant, for all appearances just a group of friends out for dinner. There was a sign at the hostess station asking that patrons wait to be seated. When a young, pretty teenager approached them and asked what there preference was, Millie pointed toward the back and said they'd like to be seated in that area.
"The smoking section it is. Follow me, please." Smiling, the young girl missed the look of dismay cross Edna's face. Edna had quit smoking several years ago after developing an allergy to cigarette smoke.
Once they were seated, Joe leaned over and whispered, "Edna, if you want, you and I can go grab a hamburger and sit in the parking lot until Millie and Trish get to ask their questions."
Edna sighed. "No, that's not necessary, but thank you, dear. We won't be here long, and actually, it's not too bad in here" She squeezed his hand and smiled. "I'll be fine."
"If you change your mind, you just let me know, okay? We can always think of some excuse to leave."
Trish picked up a menu from the center of the table and surreptitiously looked around. There were booths along the walls with tables placed comfortably in the middle. Wide glass panes completely adorned two of the walls, giving the area an open feel. Twilight was fast approaching, and from her vantage point she could see soft, muted lights from traffic along the highway and from houses in the nearby neighborhood.
Friendly conversation flowed steadily from the other patrons of the restaurant, some of whom were obviously regular customers. Glancing at the menu, she was surprised at the wide variety of entrees they had to offer. She could get used to this questioning stuff if they continued to hold their meetings in restaurants.
Suddenly Edna coughed, buried her face in her menu, and lightly kicked Trish under the table. Trish glanced from her to Millie, who nodded imperceptibly. Mary must be coming toward them. Joe picked up his own menu and leaned toward Edna as he asked if she knew what she wanted. Satisfied that they truly represented just a group of friends out for an evening, Trish drew a calming breath and looked down at her menu. They had all agreed that she would begin the subtle questioning, and she only hoped she didn't pull a Millie and jump the gun out of nervousness.
"Are you ready to order?" Even though she had been expecting Mary to approach from behind her, Trish jumped slightly at the friendly voice. She glanced up quickly and smiled. "I think so. Millie, why don't you start?"
Mary Chavez was younger than Trish expected, probably in her early thirties. She had a great smile with dark, flashing eyes and long, silky hair once again pulled back from her face. She was also very good at her job, making helpful suggestions while Millie placed her order. It wasn't quite the impression of an inefficient, angry bookkeeper that Trish had envisioned.
"Thank you, dear," Millie said when she finished placing her order, handing Mary the menu with a smile. Suddenly, Millie's smile faltered and the color drained from her face. She was staring at Mary as if she had just seen a ghost. Nobody else seemed to notice Millie's strange behavior as Mary began to take Edna's order. Concerned, Trish leaned forward and caught Millie's eye. Millie swallowed and shook her head slightly, but before Trish could determine what was wrong, it was her turn.
She ordered the shrimp special and closed her menu, noticing Millie's hand shake slightly as she reached for her iced tea. With no idea what was wrong, Trish had no option but to play out their plan, but she was worried. Millie's behavior was completely out of character.
As soon as Joe completed his order, Trish leaned for- ward with what she hoped appeared to be an uncertain smile and said to Mary, "You look so familiar ... ah!" Startled, Trish glanced around trying to figure out which one of her friends had just kicked her painfully. Since both Edna and Joe were looking at her as if she had lost her mind, it had to have been Millie. Trish sighed. Who else was there?
Millie was staring at her with eyes wide and lips pinched. Shoot, Millie was going to blow this if she didn't stop acting so strange. What was wrong with her? With everyone else they had talked to, Millie had been strong and gung-ho, even aggressive. Now she was acting as if she was scared to death.
Trish sent Millie a silent warning with narrowed eyes before she turned back to Mary, forcing her smile back into place. "Have we met before?"
"Oh no," Millie exclaimed loudly, "I'm so sorry!" Millie's glass lay on its side, tea spreading quickly over and down the table.
"Don't worry about it, dear. Everyone has an accident now and then," Edna said soothingly as she quickly reached for a handful of napkins from the dispenser on the table and tried to blot up the mess.
"I'll go get a rag and a fresh glass of tea," Mary said sweetly. "This happens all the time."
As soon as Mary left, Millie leaned over and swatted Trish on the shoulder. "Can't you take a hint?" she hissed.
Trish's mouth dropped open as she rubbed her shoulder. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that Mary Chavez is wearing earrings that closely resemble a pair that I know Susan had!"
"What?" Edna asked incredulously. "Are you sure?"
"I'm as sure as I can be. The last
thing we need to do is bring up Sam's name right now."
Joe lowered his chin and cleared his throat. Mary was back at the table. "Here we go," she said, placing another glass of tea in front of Millie. "I'll have this cleaned up in no time." As Mary wiped the table, Trish looked at the earrings she wore. Small, elegant diamonds encircled a single pearl in the beautiful studs. They were a little dressy for the uniform Mary was wearing, Trish thought to herself, but that didn't mean they didn't belong to her. Trish sat back and looked at Edna, noticing with dismay that everyone at the table was staring at Mary's ears.
"Um," she said quickly, trying to think of something to distract Mary before she looked up and noticed she was the center of attention. "Could we have an order of cheese sticks also?"
"Of course," Mary said as she straightened. "I'll get those for you right now."
As soon as Mary was out of earshot, Millie leaned forward. "Well," she whispered, "what do you think?"
Edna's voice trembled. "I've seen those earrings on Susan before." Joe leaned over and placed a hand over hers. "Honey, don't jump to conclusions. More than likely Mary just has a similar pair."
Millie shook her head slowly. "I can't swear to it, but I think those are the ones Sam had made especially for Susan for Christmas last year."
Trish looked over her shoulder to make sure Mary wasn't near. "The only way we'll know for sure is to get Sam to look at them"
"And how do you propose we do that-yank them out of Mary's ears and take them over to Sam?"
Trish really hated it when Millie resorted to sarcasm. "Of course that's not what I meant!" she replied irritably. "Sam will have to come here"
Joe looked over Trish's shoulder and cleared his throat. "Oh, look," he said loudly, "it's coming just in time. I'm starving."
Mary walked up to the table and placed the hot cheese sticks with four plates in the middle of the table. "Enjoy the cheese sticks," she said with a smile. "Your meals will be ready soon. Can I get you anything else right now?"
"These look beautiful," Millie said dramatically.
They looked beautiful? Trish was hungry, and she did enjoy good food, but she couldn't ever remember referring to something she ate as beautiful! Edna was looking at Millie curiously, and it was all Trish could do not to grin. But that temptation was quickly replaced by stunned surprise as Millie said admiringly, "They're almost as lovely as your earrings, dear."
For a moment nobody moved at the table except Millie, who nonchalantly reached for a cheese stick. Mary, thank God, seemed unaware of the tension. "Thank you. You don't want to know what I had to do to get them, though," she said with a laugh. "Let me know if you need anything." Still grinning, Mary turned to wait on another table.
Small shivers crept up Trish's spine. She looked around the table. Millie's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. Edna's mouth was hanging wide open. Joe's lips were pinched in a tight line.
It took a few minutes, but soon life returned to the table. "Oh, my goodness," Edna whispered, "was that a confession?"
"I don't think that's very likely," Millie said wryly. "But it is rather telling, don't you think?"
Trish opened her mouth but nothing came out. Taking a sip of tea, she cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm not sure. We may be reading too much into this. I will agree, though, that it was a very strange remark."
"Here comes our dinner," Joe said softly. "Everyone try to act normal."
If Mary noticed that everybody at the table was sitting stiff and silent with plastic smiles on their faces, she didn't let on. She served the meal quickly and efficiently, bringing all the anticipated condiments without having to be asked. She looked at the remaining cheese sticks. "Would you like me to box those up for you?"
Edna looked up sharply, her eyes wide. "Please do that," she said in an uncharacteristically high-pitched voice.
Mary's eyebrows rose a fraction, but she made no comment as she reached for the uneaten appetizer. "I'll be right back."
Trish looked down at her plate. The shrimp platter, which had sounded so good just a short while ago, now held no appeal whatsoever. Evidently, she wasn't the only one who had lost her appetite, either. Scratch that. Surprisingly, Millie seemed to have lost her earlier fear. She was digging into her grilled chicken dinner as though she hadn't eaten in a week.
Trish glanced at Edna, who shook her head slightly and pushed her plate back. "I'm not very hungry," Edna remarked.
Joe sighed. "I hate to admit it, but neither am I. We'll get these boxed up to go and eat later when we've calmed down"
"You have to eat," Millie said between bites. "We need to keep our strength up. Finally, we have a tangible clue"
"We don't have anything except more suspicion," Trish said quietly. "And you know how Henry feels about our suspicions. He's not going to listen to us. We need to get Sam to verify that the earrings belonged to Susan."
"Trish is right," Joe said. "I wish there was another way, though. It may not be as easy as we think. We don't know how often Mary wears those earrings, and we don't know how she's going to react when she sees Sam. Or, for that matter, we don't know how Sam is going to react if he believes those earrings are Susan's. Remember, he's a very hurt, angry man."
"I still say that's a good thing," Millie said, finally pushing her plate away. Nobody else had touched their food. "He should be angry. Look at everything the murderer has taken from him."
It was a somber group that left the restaurant a few minutes later. Mary had packed up their untouched food, clearly puzzled as to why only one of them had eaten, especially since they had all proclaimed that they were starving when they'd sat down.
So focused on their agenda, Joe and the ladies hadn't noticed the woman sitting alone at a nearby table. She had been watching them for quite a while and had even shamelessly eavesdropped on their conversation. She had been amused by their obvious tactics initially, but there wasn't anything funny about them noticing the earrings.
What a sweet twist of fate, the woman had thought, that she had been in the restaurant when those four had come in. This visit had turned out to be very informative. Very informative, indeed, she had grinned as she had watched Mary walk away after refreshing her iced tea, the earrings sparkling in the light.
Millie was right, Edna thought as they walked over to Trish's early the next morning. They did need to check out every possibility on what could have occurred the morning Susan was killed, but after finding Mary Chavez last night, it was hard to focus on anybody else. However, as Millie had pointed out a few minutes before, it could be that Mary Chavez was only involved in the theft of Sam's safe. Admittedly it wasn't a likely scenario, but it had to be considered.
Well, there wasn't much they could do right now on that front, anyway. Joe was on his way over to Sam's house to talk to him about the earrings and the part they wanted him to play to verify if, in fact, they were Susan's or not. Once that was established, they could then discuss what to do.
Until then, there was still the lead on Tom Jones to check out. "A good detective never leaves a stone unturned," Millie said.
Trish rolled her eyes. "We're not detectives, much less good detectives."
"How can you say that after what we found out last night?" Edna asked.
"We may not have found out anything."
"That's exactly why we need to keep investigating," Millie said pointedly. "Come on, Trish, get the directions to Tom Jones' place and let's get going. It's not going to take that long. We're just going to drive by his house and get a feel for the area. That's all."
Trish had just applied the brakes at the stop sign when Edna noticed Larry Thompson turning onto their street. She waved gaily as he slowed and pulled his car up alongside them. "Don't say anything about Mary Chavez," Millie warned suddenly.
Trish rolled down her window and smiled. "Hello."
"Good morning, ladies," he said, his drop-dead gorgeous smile warm and friendly. "Where are you heading off to?"
"The grocery store."
"The dry cleaners"
"The bank"
Larry's eyebrows rose as any normal person's would at their fumbling response. Trish silently groaned as she forced a laugh. "Actually, we're going to all of the above"
"Ah, I see," he said, shaking his head, his brown eyes dancing. "What you really mean to say is that you're following up on a clue you don't want me to know about" He waved away their automatic denial with a smile. "I was just going to stop by and let you know I haven't forgotten you. Nothing suspicious has turned up on Mark Wilson, so I thought you may have someone else in mind you wanted me to check out"
Millie sat quietly in the backseat, but Trish could almost feel her tense up. "No, um ... not right offhand. We don't have the list of names with us, anyway. Perhaps you could come back by in a couple of days" Maybe by then Sam would be able to verify if the earrings were Susan's or not and they could talk to Larry about Mary Chavez.
Before he could say anything, a car pulled up behind him. He looked in his rearview mirror and sighed. "Perfect timing," he muttered. "Okay, just please be careful ... while you run your errands." Grinning, he waved and pulled off.
Trish took a deep breath and pressed the gas pedal. "I'm not sure he believed us," she said wryly.
"It doesn't matter," Millie said. "The next time we see him we'll be able to tell him what we've been doing."
"If all goes well, we will," Edna said, a stark reminder that all they were doing at this point was guessing.
"It will. My gut tells me that we're on the right track," Millie said confidently.
Trish wished her own gut was as sure as Millie's.
"I think we're almost there," Edna said, looking at the directions. "Take a right here on Roosevelt Street and it should be just a couple of miles further." Edna laid the directions on her lap and then cocked her head, her brows lowered in puzzlement.
"What's wrong?" Millie asked, leaning forward to look at Edna.
"Don't tell me we're lost!" Trish exclaimed.